Lockable golf club head adjustment



March 4, 1969 E. R. ANDIS LOQKABLE GOLF CLUB HEAD ADJUSTMENT Filed June 1, 1967 INVENTOR 1 4; A-rrozuaY 27 5? ,zyig 5 Eavtsrz Eva/5 United States Patent 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An adjustable head for a golf club having means for preventing inadvertent adjustment after the desired head position has been selected. A snap-in shield is provided whereby special tools must be used to remove the shield before the adjustment can be changed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO A RELATED PATENT The present invention is in the nature of an improvement over the adjustable golf club shown in my co-pending US. application, Ser. No. 533,620, filed Mar. 11, 1966, and entitled, Adjustable Pivotal Connection Mechanism With Locking Means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In order to comply with tournament regulations f various professional golf associations, it is mandatory that the head of a golf club cannot be adjustable during play.

Golf clubs having adjustable heads are well known and these adjustments may be various types, for example, for varying the degree of pitch of the club face or varying the angle of the longitudinal axis of the head relative to the shaft. It is necessary to permit the player to use the club for a period and adjust the head to various positions before he can determine which position he prefers. After this determination has been made, if he desires to enter tournament play, the head must then be fixed and not be capable of adjustment thereafter, at least not during tournament play.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a golf club having an adjustable head in which locking nut means are oscillatingly mounted and which threadably receives the club shaft, whereby the shaft can be swung to any one of a plurality of adjusted positions, and which head has means for locking and sealing the adjustment to prevent further adjustment of the head.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a golf club head embodying the present invention, the club shaft being shown as broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the head shown in FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view taken generally along line 3-3 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view taken generally along line 4-4 in FIGURE 3, but on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 5 is a bottom view of the head as shown in FIGURE 3, with the shield broken away for clarity;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective, exploded, view of the parts in disassembled relationship;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged, elevational view of the shield, when in the normal position;

FIGURE 8 is a view like FIGURE 7 but showing the shield in the compressed position; and

FIGURE 9 is a plan view of the shield as shown in FIGURE 8.

3,430,957 Patented Mar. 4, 1969 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The golf head 1 has a recess 2 (FIGURE 3) with an arcuate or generally semi-circular, internal surface 3, through which an opening 4 extends to the upper side of the head. Adjacent the upper end of the opening, the head has an arcuate surface 5 which complements surface 3, that is to say, surfaces 3 and 5 are generally formed by radii having the same center.

A partially cylindrical nut 10, that is one having at least a portion of its periphery formed as an arc, is located in recess 2 and is of such a width between its flat sides 11 and 12 that is forms a snug but sliding fit with the flat side walls 13 and 14 of recess 2. Furthermore, the upper part of this cylindrical nut 10 is of such a diameter that it complements the arcuate, internal surface 3 (FIGURE 3) to for-m a continuous abutting engagement therewith. The lower part of the nut has been cut away so as to provide a flat surface 10a. A lock nut 10c is threaded on the end of the shaft and can abut tightly against nut 10 to lock and fix the shaft in its selected position.

The nut 10 has a threaded hole 15 which threadably receives the threaded end of a rod 16 which in turn extends into the opening 4. Rod 16 has a shoulder 17, and an arcuate clamp 18 has a central hole 19 for mounting the clamp on the rod where it bears against this shoulder 17. The arcuate shape of clamp 18 is such that it complements and can bear firmly and evenly (FIGURES 3 and 4) against the arcuate external surface 5 of the head 1.

The rod 16 is adapted to be rigidly fixed to the golf club handle 16a and could be made as one piece therewith. Turning of the handle in such a direction to screw the rod or handle into the nut 10 causes the shoulder 17 to force the clamp 18 tightly against surface 5. It will be noted clamp 18 is of some length to provide a friction engaging area of substantial size, and of a width to clamp at both sides of opening 4 against the head. Furthermore, because the clamp is located radially a distance from the cylinder nut 10, good holding leverage against accidental movement of the handle is provided. Relative movement of the parts in any other than in the intended plane is prevented because of the fit of nut 10 in the recess 2 and also because the sides 20 and 21 of clamp 18 abut against the sides 22 and 23 of the slotted recess 24 at the outer end of the opening 4.

Once the player has determined the desired adjusted position of the head, the nut 10 is drawn up tightly and the head is then locked in place by inserting a screw driver or other tool (not shown) in the slots 10e in the outer end of lock nut 10c and tightening the latter against nut 10. To prevent further adjustment of the head, a snapin shield 26 is inserted in the lower end of rectangular recess 2 as follows.

The shield 26 includes a central portion 27 which is normally curved (FIGURE 7) in a concave direction at its lower side and which terminates at its ends in flanges 28 and 29 formed generally at right angles to portion 27. When in the normal, unassembled position, the total length ofthe shield 26 is slightly greater than the length of recessf2 and will not fit in the latter freely. In orderto insert the shield, it is necessary to flex the ends towards one another with the fingers, and against the spring action of the curve central portion 27, thus straightening the curved portion, as shown in FIGURE 8. The shield will thus be made slightly shorter than normal, and it can be inserted in the recess (FIGURES 3 and 4) where the resilient spring action of the normally curved portion 27 forces the flanges 28 and 29 tightly against the inter nal ends of the recess, thus firmly holding the shield within the recess. When in position, the laterally extending sides 30 and 31 of shield portion 27 bear against shoulders 3 32 and 33 (FIGURES 4 and 9) formed along the inside of the sides of the lowermost end of recess 2.

The shield is thus easily snapped into sealing position, firmly seated, and lies perfectly flush with the fiat bottom portion of the head from which it cannot be removed except with special tools.

Various modes of carrying out the invention are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the invention.

I claim:

1. An adjustable head golf club comprising, a head having an opening therethrough, said opening defining a generally arcuate internal surface and two opposed internal fiat sides within the head, a generally cylindrical nut located in said opening and having opposed flat sides which abut against said internal flat sides of said opening, said nut being of such diameter so as to provide an arcuate surface that complements and abuts snugly against said arcuate internal surface, a handle extending into said opening and threadably engaged in said nut, an external arcuate surface formed on said head and around said opening; a lock nut also threadably engaged on the end of said handle for locking engagement with said generally cylindrical nut, said lock nut having means for receiving a locking tool from the outer end of said lock nut,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 362,384 5/1887 Johnson 248-181 749,174 1/ 1904 Davis 273-79 1,643,250 9/ 1927 Longsworth 273-79 2,486,952 11/1949 Kearsley et al. 273-174 XR 2,644,689 7/ 1953 Putrnan 273-79 2,691,532 10/ 1954 Hayner 287-14 3,204,898 9/1965 Manning 287-12 XR RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

PAUL E. SHAPIRO, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

